T1 112010065 Full text
ASTARI 2
INTRODUCTION
What’s on your mind when you see a sexy girl wearing a bikini on the
cover of a magazine? Or on a TV advertisement? I think that most men and also most
women feel happy if they see a sexy girl with her bikini. Are you aware though that
the girl is being objectified? The producer of the magazines, for example, just want to
use the girl to sell magazines. The girl, as the image on the cover of magazine, often
does not realize that she becomes a sexual object. In recent days, there are still many
women used as objects for men. Defining sexual objectification, sexual
objectification occurs when a human is not recognized as fully being a human, but
humans only become an object for other people. The issue of sexual objectification
itself has been around since the 1970s. When the feminists blame objectification of
women, most people think of the images saturated in magazines, advertisements,
movies, and the internet. There are many women in varying stages of being undressed,
dolled up and presented for the male gaze. The issue of sexual objectification is not
only found in magazines, advertisements, movies and the internet, but also in literary
works, like novels, short stories, etc. Many issue of sexual objectification can be
found in our society.
There are several kinds of sexual objectification, such as: sexual assault,
sexual harrassment, pornography, etc. One kind of sexual objectifications is rape.
Nowdays, we, as Indonesian society, often find cases of rape in newspapers,
television news, magazines or maybe in a real story when our friend or family
ASTARI 3
member has become a victim of rape. The problematic issue here is the family
member also become rape victims. Family should be the one who protect other family
member, but the fact is the member of family itself rapes the other family member.
Perempuan Kembang Jepun, a novel by Lan Fang, raise the issues of rapes that
portray the situation happen in society nowdays. The novel makes me interested to
analyze about the rape cases that happen in the novel, because there are facts that
many rape cases found in our reality, especially in Indonesian context. This is
important because most people only consider rape just as a sexual violence, but I
believe that there is a reason of why rape cases happen.
Perempuan Kembang Jepun novel tells about Matsumi and Sulis’ life
journey before and after their marriage. In their marriage with Sujono, Sujono’s
wives, Matsumi and Sulis are treated as Sujono’s sexual objects. Sujono treated them
badly, like saying bad words to Matsumi and Sulis, and using their bodies for his
sexual pleasure without their permission. In Perempuan Kembang Jepun, the women
characters, Matsumi and Sulis were raped by Sujono, and also Lestari was raped by
her step-brother. Through these three women characters in the novel, the women
characters become sexual objects for the men characters.
Based on Perempuan Kembang Jepun, my research question is: How do men
characters treat women characters in Perempuan Kembang Jepun by Lan Fang? The
treatment here only focuses on rape cases which happen in the family. This study will
analyze the actions and behaviors of the men and women characters in the novel to
ASTARI 4
better understand how men treat the women. Moreover, the objective of this study is
to know why rape cases happen and find out the meaning. This study is interesting
because nowdays people are still not aware what is exactly the meaning of cases of
rape, especially marital rape, that happens in our society. Therefore, this study
explains the meaning of rape cases and the possible causes of rapes that I will discuss
more in discussion.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Feminism
Nowdays, the word feminism or feminist is common to hear in surroundings.
We can find the term in many articles, on the internet, etc. As MacKinnon said that,
“Feminism is the first theory, the first practice, the first
movement, to take seriously the situation of all women,
both in our situation and in our social life as a whole.” (296)
In other words, MacKinnon says that feminism is the first theory, practice
and movement about women. She adds in giving explanation about feminism is
taking all situations of women seriously, both in our situations and our social lives. It
means that we have to take all the stituations which are created by women seriously
and what we can do for any kinds of situation which happen to women. Kourany,
et.al, also said that for many women as well as men this term causes an image of a
strident, unattractive woman angrily, deserting husbands, killing fetuses, or perhaps
just burning bras (1). As cited in Kourany, et.al, feminists come from all types of
ASTARI 5
religions, educational levels, ethnicines, races, and class backgrounds; they are
different ages, body sizes, and sexual orientations; they include men as well as
women (1). Sometimes, feminists have controversial ideas about family, sexual
relations, the mother-child relationship and the female body.
In the past, feminists pressed governments or other people for such
transformations as the abolition of slavery, the inauguration of universal suffrage, free
public education, affordable healthcare, accessible birth-control clinics, and improved
working conditions for women and children. Nowdays, Kourany, et.al, said that
feminists are still looking for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, quality
child care facilities, equal pay for equal work, reproductive rights, and an end to
sexual violence against women (rape, pornography, sexual harassment, wife beating,
etc.) (1). There are types of feminism which have different characteristics for each,
such as liberal feminism, radical feminism, socialist feminism, and etc. According to
Dworkin, sexual objectification, especially rape, happens in families, I conclude that
using radical feminism to analyze the issue raised in the novel is the most suitable.
The reason I use radical feminism is it insists that the men guided the social
construction of gender and sexuality for their own purposes (19) said Kourany et.al as
cited in Feminist Philosophies. In this study, I am going to talk about women’s bodies.
Therefore, I think using radical feminism theory is suitable for analyzing the novel.
Radical Feminism
ASTARI 6
As cited in Kourany et.al, radical feminists argue that it is patriarchy that
oppresses women, or a system characterized by power, dominance, hierarchy, and
competition, a system that cannot be reformed but only roots and branches can be
extirpated (18). Kourany et.al also gives more information that radical feminists insist
that men have guided the social construction of gender and sexuality for their own
purposes. Men have controlled women though several kinds of things, such as
women’s body, economics, law, and etc. For example, women’s body, as we know
that men usually like slim and beautiful women. In order to be what men usually like,
women try hard to be that men like. This example gives a clear image of how men
have controlled women through their bodies, just like what Kourany et.al said in
Feminist Philosophies that:
“Through education, law, and economics; through
pornography, prostitute, sexual harassment, rape, and
woman battering, and through foot binding, suttee, purdah,
clitoridectomy, witch-burning, and gyneclogy, Men have
controlled “feminity” and sexuality for male pleasure.” (19)
The radical feminism theory is important since I want to analyze about rape,
which is how men usually take control of women’s bodies. And there are two radical
feminists, Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, who are controversial and are
against pornography. This study will use Dworkin and MacKinnon’s theories in
analyzing the cases of rape that happen in Perempuan Kembang Jepun. Dworkin and
MacKinnon, as cited in Kourany et.al, have noted that: “the pornographic imagination
distorts, degrades, and demeans the bodies of women far more than those of men.”
ASTARI 7
(21) In other words, what these two influential radical feminists, Dworkin and
MacKinnon want to say is that the value of women as human beings is seen as less
than the men. Some radical feminists focus on biological origins of women’s
oppression and some of them emphasize the ways in which gender (rigid ideas of
“feminity”) and sexuality (rigid ideas of heterosexuality) have been used to
subordinate women to men. Kourany, et.al, noted that radical feminists initially saw
the women’s biology and psychology as the actual causes of women’s enslavement,
though today most of radical feminists view them as the potential sources of women’s
liberation (18).
Sexual Objectification
Three radical feminists that I have mentioned before, Andrea Dworkin,
Catharine MacKinnon, and also Immanuel Kant, give definitions of sexual
objectification. Sexual objectification occurs when a human is not recognized as fully
being a human, that humans only become an object for other people. As Dworkin said,
as quoted in Papadaki,
“Dworkin, using very Kantian language, writes about the
phenomenon of sexual objectification: ‘Objectification
occurs when a human being...... is made less than human,
turned into a thing or commodity, bought or sold. When
objectification occurs, a person is depersonalized..... those
who can be used as if they are not fully human are no
longer fully human in social terms; their humanity is hurt
by being diminished’ (30-31).”
ASTARI 8
The phenomenon of sexual objectification occurs when a person makes other
person as less than human, the person becomes a thing or object. When a man treats a
woman as less than human, it is called sexual objectification. The woman who is
treated as less than human can be called an object for the man. When objectification
occurs to a person, especially a woman, she feels that her humanity is being
diminished by the men. So, in other words, if the men used women’s bodies as their
object, the women would not feel that they are human anymore. Some women are
aware that they are being objectified, and some are not. Besides that, MacKinnon also
gives a description of sexual objectification, as cited in Papadaki. She writes: “A sex
object is defined on the basis of its looks, in terms of its usability for sexual pleasure...
A person, in one Kantian view, is a free and rational agent whose existence is an end
in itself, as opposed to instrumental. In pornography women exist to the end of male
pleasure.” (173, 158). MacKinnon tries to say that a person is free and rational for
herself/himself and should oppose to be an object. In other words, a sex object, here
meaning women, is defined by how the women look, such as the way the women
dress and that they are then used for sexual pleasure. Papadaki, Kant, Dworkin and
MacKinnon also said that treating a person as a mere sexual tool is called
objectification. Objectification leads to the reduction of the individual in question to
the status of a thing for use (a lemon, a steak, a cup). Kant, Dworkin, and MacKinnon
give the example of a lemon. It is like if the man has used the lemon for something,
tasted it and then he would throw it away. I can explain that in this example a lemon
is like a woman’s bodies. Usually after we eat a lemon, we just throw it away. The
ASTARI 9
example is the same like after the men used women’s bodies and felt the pleasure.
Then the men just threw their body away.
Sexual objectification has several kinds of types, such as pornography, rape,
sexual harrassment, etc. In this study I want to emphasize only about the rape,
especially marital rape. The rape not only happens in a family, but it also can happen
in many contexts, as MacKinnon said that,
“We find that rape happens to all women in all contexts,
from the family, including rape of girls and babies, to
students and women in the workplace, on the streets, at
home, in their own bedrooms by men they do not know and
by men they do know, by men they are married to, men thay
have had social conversation with, and, last often, men they
have never seen before.” (296)
The quotation above gives a clear explanation that we find rape happens to
women in many context by everyone, especially men. Women can be raped by men
whom they are married to, like the cases of rape that happen in Perempuan Kembang
Jepun, where Sujono’s wives, Matsumi and Sulis are raped by their husband, Sujono;
also Lestari was raped by her step-brother.
SUMMARY
Matsumi, is a geisha who is sent by Yuriko to Surabaya, Indonesia, to
accompany Shosho Kobayashi, one of the leaders of Japanese soldiers in Indonesia.
After arriving in Surabaya, Matsumi changes her name to Tjoa Kim Hwa, which has
the meaning Golden Flower Snake as her name in Indonesia, because it is too
ASTARI 10
dangerous if she uses a Japanese name. In Surabaya, Matsumi lives in one of red light
district areas named Kembang Jepun with Takeda as the owner. At Kembang Jepun,
Matsumi works as a prostitute to accompany the guests. After a long time living in
Kembang Jepun, Matsumi meets Sujono, a kuli worker at Babah Oen, one of the
richest clothing store owners in Surabaya. Because Sujono always carries Babah
Oen’s marketable goods, Matsumi and Sujono always meet behind the house to talk
to each other. Sujono falls in love with Matsumi, and knowing that Matsumi’s price
in the Kembang Jepun is high, Sujono steals Babah Oen’s money in order to spend a
night with Matsumi. Matsumi and Sujono finally have sex. Then Matsumi realized
that she loves him, even though she should not use feelings when she works.
One day, Matsumi told Sujono that she is pregnant. Sujono was happy to hear
that because he wants Matsumi to be his wife, give birth, raise their children and, the
most important thing, is Sujono wants to make Matsumi his own. Matsumi decides to
leave Takeda’s house to marry Sujono. Matsumi tells Takeda that she loves Sujono.
Hearing that, Takeda got very angry at Matsumi. Matsumi and Sujono finally get
married.
However, on the other hand, before Sujono meets Matsumi, Sujono actually
has a wife, named Sulis, a woman who used to sell jamu, a traditional Javanese drink,
to workers in harbour before she marries with Sujono. Sujono marries Sulis, because
Sulis told him that she was pregnant with his child. In Matsumi and Sujono’s
marriage, what Matsumi expected from her marriage with Sujono is different with
ASTARI 11
what actually happened. At first, their marriage is full of happiness. Sujono does not
have to work because they live off Matsumi’s savings. Matsumi also gives her
savings to Sujono which he then gives to Sulis. After Matsumi’s savings decrease,
Sujono still does not want to work. Matsumi is dissapointed with Sujono. Sujono is a
lazy person. He does not want to work and only wants to have sex with her. The same
situation happens to Sujono and Sulis’ marriage. When Matsumi feels that is enough
for her, Matsumi wants to leave her house with her child, Kaguya, because she cannot
last with Sujono. When Japan gives up to the allied states during a war, Matsumi
thinks that it is a way to run away from Sujono and go back to Amaterasu Oomikami,
Japan. Finally, Matsumi leaves her house with Kaguya, but she cannot bring Kaguya
with her to Japan. Kaguya is left alone in Surabaya to Mr. Tan and Mrs. Nia. After
many years, Matsumi comes back to Indonesia for her child, Higashi’s engagement
with Maya, Lestari’s adopted child. Then finally, Matsumi can meet her lovely
daughter, Kaguya, a.k.a Lestari.
DISCUSSION
In this discussion, I only focus on the marital rapes that happen in Sujono’s
family. The issues of marital rape which happen to three women characters, Sulis,
Matsumi and Lestari by the men characters, Sujono and Joko.
Rape as a Media To Control Women
ASTARI 12
In Perempuan Kembang Jepun, rape happens to all women characters, Sulis,
Matsumi and Lestari. Defining rape itself, the definition of rape is physically forced
or otherwise coerced penetration – even if slight – of the vulva (vagina) or anus,
using penis, other body parts or an object (pg. 1), as Wang said. Whereas a marital
rape is a rape that happens in a family context. The issue of marital rapes happen in
Sujono’s family. Sujono is one of the men characters in Perempuan Kembang Jepun
who has two wives. Their name are Sulis and Matsumi. First, I want to discuss about
how Sujono treats Sulis in their marriage. In Sujono and Sulis’ marriage, their
marriage is not happy. They live in poverty and in a hard situation where Sujono does
not want to work and Sulis only stays at home. This situation makes Sulis get angry
to Sujono, and everyday they fight for the same problem asking Sujono to find a job.
Sulis feels tired for Sujono and decides to sell potions again at the harbour. On other
hand, Sujono feels enough for the bad words that Sulis usually says to him, then
Sujono gets angry and starts treating Sulis roughly. Sujono often punches Sulis in her
eyes and stomach, saying bad words to Sulis, even rapes her.
“He treated me no different from a handmaid who made
him a coffee. He was also very violent. Beside rice, I had
his punches on my plate. He was rough not only with his
words and hands, but also when sleeping with me.” (79)
Sulis said that her husband has treated her badly, she is just like a servant in
her own house, besides she was asked to make a coffee. She also got insulted even
beatings from her husband. Seeing the quote above emphasizes how rude Sujono is.
He does not only badly treat his wife in terms of physicals, but also mentals. In my
ASTARI 13
own view, although Sulis is his own wife, but it does not mean that he can do
anything to his wife. A wife also has the right to speak what she felt and what she
thought. But the novel shows the opposites; she is always against back to Sujono
while they are fighting. It shows how Sujono has full right in controlling Sulis.
Implicitly, it shows that the position of woman is under the man. He treats his wife,
Sulis, no different from a handmaid. Beside that, she also gets punched, attacked with
told bad words, mishandled, etc. from Sujono. Here, Sujono has full right in
controlling Sulis’s bodies. Since Sujono is Sulis’ husband, Sujono has the right in
controlling Sulis, like asking Sulis to make him a coffee every morning until serving
him on the bed at night. Then for Sulis, after what Sujono did to her, it only makes it
more difficult for her to control herself. As she said, “He treated me roughly, which
made it more difficult to control myself.” (54). Sulis says this when Sujono rapes her,
he treats her roughly. Sulis says that because she feels difficult in controlling her
body by herself. She finds it difficult to defend her body from Sujono. She also feels
difficult controlling her emotions because of Sujono’s behavior. The “controlling”
here means that Sulis is no longer has power over for her body. Sujono takes his part
in controlling her bodies. She knows that she is become Sujono’s object for his
roughness. Not only does she get punched by Sujono, Sulis also was raped by Sujono.
“He raped me”. (79)
ASTARI 14
Sulis’ suffering has not ended yet; Sujono rapes her. One night when they are
fighting about their marriage, after Sujono punches to Sulis, Sujono gives her a lesson
by raping her. We can know the roughness of Sujono from Sulis saying,
“While still in pain and not fully consious, Mas Sujono
leapt on me like hungry tiger. He pulled my legs up in the
air, pressed them against my chest, and pushed me until
my head hit the wall. I whimpered and tears flooded my
face, but he did not care. He penetrated me roughly until
his sweat fell like a mist. He stopped without the squirt of
the warm liquid.” (78)
Sulis says this about when Sujono rapes her. This quotation gives a clear
image of how rude Sujono is while he rapes her. Sujono leaps on Sulis’ body like a
hungry tiger, he pulls her legs, presses them against her chest, and pushes her head
until it hits the wall. Sujono also penetrated her roughly, but he does not ejaculate. It
shows that Sujono only uses Sulis’ body to give her a lesson to not go against him.
Sujono rapes her to give a warning. So, Sulis will no longer try to challenge him
while they are fighting. This shows how sexual violence, specifically rape, used by
Sujono to control Sulis, who is feared of being uncontrolled. As Dr. HoltzworthMunroe said in Wolf, that:
“....there are three categories of men who hit women. Men in
one group fear abandonment; those in second are
hypersensitive to criticism; men in third more deliberately use
violence to control their partners.” (95)
Sujono is include in the third kind of men who hit women, men who use
violence to control their partners. Here, Sujono uses rape as a media to control Sulis.
ASTARI 15
Sujono uses rapes because he is afraid that Sulis is out of control. Sujono also makes
Sulis to obey him bu using rape.
In previous discussion, we know how rude Sujono is, by how he says a bad
words and rapes Sulis. It is also shown in the way he treats Matsumi, Sujono’s second
wife, who also gets the same treatments from Sujono. Whereas Sujono really loves
Matsumi; he also insults Matsumi using bad words. As he said in Part 3: Matsumi,
“you’re nothing but a prostitute, a whore, a slut.” (147). Even Matsumi is also called
as a whore, etc, but in that statement we can see that actually he has a different
purpose in saying the bad words. He says those words because he is jealous knowing
that Matsumi wants to work again in Hanada’s house as a geisha. Feeling that Sujono
owns Matsumi, he does anything in order to prevent Matsumi’s desire to work as a
geisha again. Despite Matsumi hearing bad words from Sujono, she is also no longer
treated as Sujono’s wife. Sujono treats her more like a slut, whore, worse than he
would treat a geisha. As she said,
“He no longer treated me like his sweetheart, but worse
than he’d treat a geisha, jugun ianfu, prostitute, whore,
slut, or any other word he used in his cursing.” (148)
The reason why Matsumi says that is when Matsumi is still being a geisha,
Sujono treats her as his sweetheart, full of tenderness. Sujono shows his love to
Matsumi and wants her to be his wife. The treatments that Matsumi receives from
Sujono before and after she marries is really different. This part is interesting to know
why Sujono changes his attitudes to Matsumi. Sujono changes his attitudes because
ASTARI 16
after his marriage with Matsumi, he thinks that he owns Matsumi. Thus, Sujono is
free saying bad words to Matsumi. Despite of getting a bad treatments from Sujono,
Matsumi was raped by Sujono too.
“He spread my thighs and lifted and folded them. he
kneaded and rolled me as if making sushi and treated my
body like a piece of paper, making me into anything he
wanted. I found no satisfaction in our union. Sujono made
lovemaking lose its beauty, tenderness, and even passion.
He disgusted me, leaving my whole body and my heart in
pain.” (148)
The same as Sulis, we can know Sujono roughness by Matsumi’s saying.
Sujono spreads Matsumi’s thighs, lifts, and folds them. He treats Matsumi’s bodies
like an object, Matsumi uses a piece of paper to describe her bodies where he could
do anything as he wants. As we know that we can make an origami by using a piece
of paper. Whereas Sujono should treat it as a human body, not a paper. Sujono also
makes Matsumi’s body into anything he wanted, like he gets a new toy to play with.
Over here, between Sujono and Matsumi, there is a misleading image of controlling
in the name of love. It is true to say that Sujono loves Matsumi, and Sujono tries to
show that he controls Matsumi in the name of love. The truth is Sujono controls
Matsumi does not in the name of love, but Sujono controls Matsumi in order to make
her obey him and afraid to him. Matsumi acknowledges that her position is under
Sujono’s control.
ASTARI 17
Then, the last examples is given from Lestari, Sujono and Matsumi’s daughter.
In Perempuan Kembang Jepun she was raped by Joko, her step-brother, Sujono and
Sulis’ child. One day, after Lestari has just taken a bath, Joko rapes her.
“Joko pushed and showed me down. I struggled to free
myself but I was too weak to fight him. He thrust something
between my thighs. It was painful and made me sore. I felt
warmth and then blood spotted the floor.” (251)
Joko pushes Lestari, then he thrust something between Lestari’s thighs. Joko make
use of Lestari’s body as his object to actualized his desire. Joko does not only use
Lestari’s as his sexual object, but also Joko wants to show to Lestari that he has
power by raping her.
The men characters in the story, Sujono and Joko do the sexual assault to the
women in their family. The types of sexual assault that happens here is marital rape.
Sujono rapes his wives, Sulis and Matsumi and Joko rapes his step-sister, Lestari.
Through rape, the men become subjects and the women become objects. As subjects,
the men have authority in controlling the objects, means the women. This show that
in the family, rape does give men in higher position than women.
The rape cases which happen in Sujono family are one kind of objectification
that occurs in our society. As MacKinnon says, rape can happen to women in all
contexts. All contexts here mean that rape can happen to women in any situation. The
women can be raped by their friends, people they know, and indeed their husband. In
Perempuan Kembang Jepun, the case of rape happens in families. Sujono rapes his
ASTARI 18
wives because he feels that he owns their bodies. He has control using their bodies for
his sexual desire. Through Sujono’s words and behaviors to his wives, it is not right
treating women not like human beings. Sujono treats Sulis and Matsumi’s bodies as
things, objects. As Dworkin said, the value of women beings is seen as less than men.
Sujono, sees his wives as less than him. The way he treats his wives shows that he
does not respect his wives. He is taking all control of his wives’ bodies.
Female Objectification
In Perempuan Kembang Jepun, it is clear that Sulis and Matsumi become
Sujono’s sexual objects. In “Part 1: Sulis”, Sujono treats Sulis as his sexual object,
because he only wants to get satisfaction from Sulis, but Sujono does not want to give
her satisfaction in back. As Dworkin says, that “a married woman is obligated to
engage in coitus with her husband”, also “he, not she,controls access to her body”
(102). What Dworkin’s saying is that, a married woman is always obligated to engage
coitus with her husband. In my opinion, it is imposible if we marry to someone, but
we do not have a coitus with our husband. A woman is obligated to engage coitus
with her husband means that Sulis has to engage in coitus with Sujono and Sujono
has the right to control Sulis’ body, but in Perempuan Kembang Jepun, Sujono did
not only engage in coitus with her, but he raped her. Sujono raped her to give her a
lesson that she should not glare at him, and say bad words to him. As Sulis says in
“Part 1: Sulis”,
ASTARI 19
“He raped me.” (79)
The difference here is usually people have sexual intercourse because they love each
other or at least it is a mutual. So, it is normal to have sex with our partner whom we
love. Through the relationship between Sujono and Sulis, I can see that there is no
love between them. Sujono only engages in coitus to get the pleasure from her before
he marries to Sulis. After Sujono marries to Sulis, Sujono uses Sulis’ body as his
sexual object. The meaning of a sexual object can be seen as in the quotation below:
“Was it making love if I had to serve him when my whole
body felt tired? Were we intimate if our union did not end
with both of us satisfied? Was it a huddle for warmth if I
was already half asleep and just let him “work” by
himself?” (76)
Sulis is thinking about Sujono’s behavior of always wanting her to engage in
coitus. It gives an image of Sulis’ feeling that she only became a sexual object for
Sujono. “Was it a huddle for warmth if I was already half asleep and just let him
“work” by himself?”; it means that Sujono uses her bodies only to get pleasure; he
does not think about if Sulis will feel satisfied or not. Sujono uses her body without
thinking of the condition of her bodies, whether she is tired or not. He only knows
that he wants to make love with Sulis. The idea of object comes from Simone de
Beauvoir, a famous feminist. Beauvoir says that man is a subject and woman is the
other, an object. It means that men become the center and women become the
subordinate. In this context, an object here means sexual object, where women
become an object for men. A sexual object itself is a person who is used by other
ASTARI 20
people only to fulfill his/her sexual dessire. In this problem, Sujono’s sexual object
here means that Sulis’ body has been used by Sujono for his own, interest, or sexual
desire.
The same situation also happens to Matsumi who thinks that her marriage
with Sujono is not happier than his first marriage. During their marriage, Sujono only
has sex with Matsumi everyday. Matsumi, who loves Sujono at first, feels it is okay
to have sex with her husband. But, time by time, Matsumi feels that Sujono is a lazy
person. Sujono does not want to find a job and go to work. He only stays at
Matsumi’s house to have sex with her. And he comes back to Sulis’ house at night.
Matsumi is finally aware that Sujono only takes advantages from her. As said in
“Chapter 3: Matsumi”, “All Sujono wanted from me was money and sexual pleasure.
He was taking advantage of me. He was no longer a lover.“ (146). Time by time,
Matsumi knows that Sujono only wants sexual pleasure from her. She feels that there
is nothing Sujono can do, except have sex with her. The words “taking advantage of
me” explicitly explain that Sujono only takes advantages from his wife. The
advantage itself is a form of sexual pleasure where he always uses his wife’s body to
get pleasure.
According to Kant, Dworkin, and MacKinnon, they said that treating a person
as a mere sexual tool is called objectification. In the story, the way Sujono treats his
wives are called objectification, because Sujono only uses his wives’ bodies to fulfill
his desire and pleasure. Sujono treats his wives as mere sexual tools and his sexual
ASTARI 21
object, where he can do anything to fulfill his sexual desire. I disagree with Sujono
who treats his wives as his sexual objects. Just like Dworkin said, while a married
women is obligated to make love with her husband and the husband controls her body,
but she also give an argument that a married woman should not be raped by her
husband (pg. 102). She also adds that “The woman had an argument: her husband
should love her as human being, not only use her as an object when he wanted to fuck
her.” (5). In other words, Dworkin wants to say that a husband should love his wife
as a human being. He should treat his wife not only merely using her to have sex, and
also using the bodies to get sexual pleasure. It is quite difficult to distinguish between
when we do objectification and when we do not. I think, when we force someone to
have sex and use someone’s body without permission is called objectification. As
Sujono does to his wifes, he uses his wifes’ bodies without thinking they will like or
not. Whenever Sujono wants to have sex, he just do that to his wives. Where having
sex it should be by two people who are pleased to do together without forcing each
other. Here, Sujono seems to like to exploit Sulis and Matsumi’s bodies to fulfill his
sexual desire by using their bodies to get pleasure. In Sujono and his wives’
relationship, marriage is not merely about love issue, Sulis and Matsumi marry to
Sujono because they believe that Sujono can give them feel secure, like assurance for
their living, but the fact is Sujono does not give them.
ASTARI 22
Silencing Women
In Perempuan Kembang Jepun, Sujono raped his two wives during his
marriage and made them as his sexual objects. Sujono’s treatments have bad effects
to them. In this third point, I am going to discuss about the reason Sujono uses rape to
his two wives.
The first character I am going to discuss is Matsumi. At first during her
marriage with Sujono, Matsumi really loves him. Matsumi is always trying to serve
Sujono, like Matsumi serves him meals everyday, makes a cup of coffee for him,
until serves his sexual desire in bed. She does those things with love. As she said, “I
always served him (Sujono) with all my heart, not only on the futon but also in
everything else.” (144). Sujono and Sulis are giving pleasure to each other. But, after
several months during their marriage, when Matsumi finally knows who Sujono is,
what Matsumi receives from Sujono is not fair. Sujono says bad words to her, makes
her as his sexual object, and the worst, rapes her. Then finally, Matsumi feels enough
for Sujono. After all things Sujono has done to her makes Matsumi really hate Sujono
where as she really loved him before.
“Although I used to be deeply in love with him, I hated him
now.” (129).
“I don’t want to see my daughter’s father, I wrote with
tears staining my face. I want to move as far away from
him. I never want to see him.” (126).
ASTARI 23
It also makes her not able to see him and she wants to leave Sujono to come
back to Japan, Matsumi’s hometown as soon as possible. Finally, Matsumi can go
back to her hometown. The effect has not stopped yet, besides making her hate
Sujono, she feels traumatized to fall in love with someone again. She is affraid if she
will get the same tratment from the one she loves. “I was confused, doubtful, and
scared. I did not want to make the same mistake.” (266). This quotation explains that
Matsumi feels afraid and she does not want to make the same mistake as she did with
Sujono, where Sujono hurt her.
The traumatized feeling is also experienced by Lestari, Matsumi and Sujono’s
daughter. After, Matsumi leaves, Sujono brings Lestari to Sulis’ house. Lestari was a
teenager, and her step-brother, Joko, was a bit older than her. One day, when only
Lestari and Joko were in the house, Joko raped her after she finished taking a bath.
The accident leaves a deep injury on her heart. As she said in “Chapter 5: Lestari”,
“I never had that kind of dream. Severe injures had scared
my cheeks and also destroyed my hopes. My dreams were
always dark and my world was colorless. I had lost my
smile and did not talk much.” (231)
The accident really hurts Lestari’s heart. The accident scares her and destroys her
hopes. She says that her dreams are always dark and her life is colorless; it means that
she never dreams something happy and she sees the world as empty, like there is no
rainbow. It makes her lose her smile and not talk much to any other people. The
ASTARI 24
accident also makes her close her heart and feel reluctant to open her heart even
though there are many men who want to mary her.
“..... never did I allow a man to approach me or peek into my heart.” (231232).
Lestari does not allow any man get closer with her. She prevents any man to peek
into her heart and makes her not want to marry to any man. She grows up until she
gets old and she is still single. “she (Lestari) was sixty years old and unmarried.”
(14). It implies that she really feels traumatized, and she does not believe in other
men. “In my life, Father was the only man who gave all his love to me (Lestari).”
(232-233). She only knows that there is only one man in her heart, it is Sujono, her
father who always takes care of and loves her. Her father also is the one who knows
her pains and wounds.
The two women characters, Matsumi and Lestari, feel traumatic and
depressed, As Wang said, rape victims commonly experience psychological
difficulties such as heightened fear, anger, anxiety, depression, guilt, self-blame, loss
of trust, flashbacks, and withdrawal.
Despite of making the victims experience psychological difficulties, rape is
used to silent and disempower the women. Sujono uses love to manipulated Sulis and
Matsumi in sex. Sujono uses sex to show his power to Sulis and Matsumi. The truth
is Sujono actually wants to disempowers Sulis and Matsumi. Sujono makes them into
ASTARI 25
the helpless creature that there is nothing they can do except receive Sujono’s
treatments to them and that they become Sujono’s object. The men rape the women is
to make them silent. They make the women silent beacuse they are afraid that the
women is being uncontrolled. So, the women will not against them. The other reason
is rape is the cheapest way which can make the women keep silent. The men only use
their power and position to do that. It is all politic that used by the men in order to
dehumanized the women.
CONCLUSION
This study analyzes about the rape cases happen in Sujono’s family in
Perempuan Kembang Jepun by Lan Fang. In analyzing the story by using radical
feminism theory, this study has several purposes. The first is to know what actually
happen in the story about the use of rape to women. The second is to make the
readers aware what is the meaning of rape cases happen in the story and the third is to
know why the men rape the women.
After analyzing the story, this study comes up with results that rape cases
happen in the story has several meanings. The first meaning is the men use rape as
their media to control women. Thus, the women will not against them. The second
meaning is they use rape to show that they have power more than the women and
make them as their object, especially sexual objects. And the third meaning is, rape is
the cheapest way they can use to dehumanize and make the women silent.
ASTARI 26
I hope this study can be useful for the readers in making them aware of rape
cases happen. I also hope that this novel can be analyzed using other theories, like
Feminism-Marxism. It can be done by paying attention to the parts when Sulis allow
her consumers to touch her body and grab her breast and Matsumi who works as a
geisha, absolutely uses her body to entertain her consumers. Sulis and Matsumi do
those all in order to gain money. It is kind of ironic where the women still use their
body to get money. It is ironic because the women are not aware that the men exploit
their body by using their money. By analyzing those parts, I believe that it can be
useful for the future, because women will think that their body are not for private
circulation and cannot be replaced with money.
ASTARI 27
WORK CITES
Beauvoir, Simone de. “The Second Sex”. London: Vintage. 1997. Book
Dworkin, A. “Intercourse”. New York: Basic Books. Print
_______. “Pornography: Men Possessing Women”. USA: Penguin Group. Print
Fang, L. “Perempuan Kembang Jepun”. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2012.
Book
_______. “Potions and Paper Cranes”. Trans. Elisabet Titik Murtisari. San Mateo:
Dalang Publishing LLC, 2013. Book
Kourany, J.A, Sterba, J.P, Tong, S. Feminist Philosophies : Problem, Theories and
Applications. USA: Harvester Wheatsheat, 1992. Print
Papadaki, E. “Sexual Objectification: From Kant to Contemporary Feminism.”
Feature Article: Theory and Practice. Contemporary Political Theory, 6 (330348). 2007. Print
“Sexual Objectification is Not Empowering, Here’s Proof.” http://www.bust.com.
Sturges, D. 31 May, 2013. Web. 30 October, 2013.
“Sexual Objectification, Part 1 : What is it?.” msmagazine.com. Heldman, C. 3 July,
2013. Web. 30 October, 2013.
“The Objectification of Women- It Goes Much Further Than Sexy Pictures.”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk. n.p. 10 Juny, 2013. Web. 30 October, 2013.
Wang, SK and Rowley, E. “Rape: How Women, The Community and The Health
Sector Respond.” Switzerland : World Health Organization, 2007. Ebook.
Wolf, Naomi. Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle For Womanhood. New York:
Random House, 1962. Print
“Kekerasan Dalam Rumah Tangga.” http://kesehatanreproduksi.tripod.com/ikr4.html.
n.p 2005. Web. 17 March, 2014.
“Kasus
Kekerasan
Terhadap
Perempuan
Masih
Tinggi.”
http://daerah.sindonews.com/read/2014/01/08/24/824764/kasus-kekerasan-
ASTARI 28
terhadap-perempuan-masih-tinggi. Akbar, R. 8 January, 2014. Web. 17 March,
2014.
ASTARI 29
Acknowledgment
It would not have been possible to write this thesis without the help and support of the
kind people around me.
Above all, I would like to thank Allah S.W.T.
This thesis would not have been possible without the help, support, advice, guidance,
patience of my supervisor, Danielle. Also the good advice, support and help of my second
reader, Bu Purwanti. And my Wali Studi, Bu Lany Kristono for the help during my study in
this faculty. I especially thank to you.
I would like to thank my parents and brother for the prayer and support. I also thank
my beloved friends, Estiningtyas R.W, Nanda P.R, Valentina Laras, Eren R, Fitri U, Annisaa’
Kamila, Titania T.O, Anindya L, Suryo Adi A, Febrina Anggri, Indah D and Icikiwir for the
help, support, encouragement, kindness, and friendship. I am really grateful having you all.
Last, but by no means least, I thank to TENNERS and all my friends at English
Department that I could not mention one by one.
For any errors or inadequacies that may remain in this work, of course, the
responsibility is entirely my own.
INTRODUCTION
What’s on your mind when you see a sexy girl wearing a bikini on the
cover of a magazine? Or on a TV advertisement? I think that most men and also most
women feel happy if they see a sexy girl with her bikini. Are you aware though that
the girl is being objectified? The producer of the magazines, for example, just want to
use the girl to sell magazines. The girl, as the image on the cover of magazine, often
does not realize that she becomes a sexual object. In recent days, there are still many
women used as objects for men. Defining sexual objectification, sexual
objectification occurs when a human is not recognized as fully being a human, but
humans only become an object for other people. The issue of sexual objectification
itself has been around since the 1970s. When the feminists blame objectification of
women, most people think of the images saturated in magazines, advertisements,
movies, and the internet. There are many women in varying stages of being undressed,
dolled up and presented for the male gaze. The issue of sexual objectification is not
only found in magazines, advertisements, movies and the internet, but also in literary
works, like novels, short stories, etc. Many issue of sexual objectification can be
found in our society.
There are several kinds of sexual objectification, such as: sexual assault,
sexual harrassment, pornography, etc. One kind of sexual objectifications is rape.
Nowdays, we, as Indonesian society, often find cases of rape in newspapers,
television news, magazines or maybe in a real story when our friend or family
ASTARI 3
member has become a victim of rape. The problematic issue here is the family
member also become rape victims. Family should be the one who protect other family
member, but the fact is the member of family itself rapes the other family member.
Perempuan Kembang Jepun, a novel by Lan Fang, raise the issues of rapes that
portray the situation happen in society nowdays. The novel makes me interested to
analyze about the rape cases that happen in the novel, because there are facts that
many rape cases found in our reality, especially in Indonesian context. This is
important because most people only consider rape just as a sexual violence, but I
believe that there is a reason of why rape cases happen.
Perempuan Kembang Jepun novel tells about Matsumi and Sulis’ life
journey before and after their marriage. In their marriage with Sujono, Sujono’s
wives, Matsumi and Sulis are treated as Sujono’s sexual objects. Sujono treated them
badly, like saying bad words to Matsumi and Sulis, and using their bodies for his
sexual pleasure without their permission. In Perempuan Kembang Jepun, the women
characters, Matsumi and Sulis were raped by Sujono, and also Lestari was raped by
her step-brother. Through these three women characters in the novel, the women
characters become sexual objects for the men characters.
Based on Perempuan Kembang Jepun, my research question is: How do men
characters treat women characters in Perempuan Kembang Jepun by Lan Fang? The
treatment here only focuses on rape cases which happen in the family. This study will
analyze the actions and behaviors of the men and women characters in the novel to
ASTARI 4
better understand how men treat the women. Moreover, the objective of this study is
to know why rape cases happen and find out the meaning. This study is interesting
because nowdays people are still not aware what is exactly the meaning of cases of
rape, especially marital rape, that happens in our society. Therefore, this study
explains the meaning of rape cases and the possible causes of rapes that I will discuss
more in discussion.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Feminism
Nowdays, the word feminism or feminist is common to hear in surroundings.
We can find the term in many articles, on the internet, etc. As MacKinnon said that,
“Feminism is the first theory, the first practice, the first
movement, to take seriously the situation of all women,
both in our situation and in our social life as a whole.” (296)
In other words, MacKinnon says that feminism is the first theory, practice
and movement about women. She adds in giving explanation about feminism is
taking all situations of women seriously, both in our situations and our social lives. It
means that we have to take all the stituations which are created by women seriously
and what we can do for any kinds of situation which happen to women. Kourany,
et.al, also said that for many women as well as men this term causes an image of a
strident, unattractive woman angrily, deserting husbands, killing fetuses, or perhaps
just burning bras (1). As cited in Kourany, et.al, feminists come from all types of
ASTARI 5
religions, educational levels, ethnicines, races, and class backgrounds; they are
different ages, body sizes, and sexual orientations; they include men as well as
women (1). Sometimes, feminists have controversial ideas about family, sexual
relations, the mother-child relationship and the female body.
In the past, feminists pressed governments or other people for such
transformations as the abolition of slavery, the inauguration of universal suffrage, free
public education, affordable healthcare, accessible birth-control clinics, and improved
working conditions for women and children. Nowdays, Kourany, et.al, said that
feminists are still looking for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, quality
child care facilities, equal pay for equal work, reproductive rights, and an end to
sexual violence against women (rape, pornography, sexual harassment, wife beating,
etc.) (1). There are types of feminism which have different characteristics for each,
such as liberal feminism, radical feminism, socialist feminism, and etc. According to
Dworkin, sexual objectification, especially rape, happens in families, I conclude that
using radical feminism to analyze the issue raised in the novel is the most suitable.
The reason I use radical feminism is it insists that the men guided the social
construction of gender and sexuality for their own purposes (19) said Kourany et.al as
cited in Feminist Philosophies. In this study, I am going to talk about women’s bodies.
Therefore, I think using radical feminism theory is suitable for analyzing the novel.
Radical Feminism
ASTARI 6
As cited in Kourany et.al, radical feminists argue that it is patriarchy that
oppresses women, or a system characterized by power, dominance, hierarchy, and
competition, a system that cannot be reformed but only roots and branches can be
extirpated (18). Kourany et.al also gives more information that radical feminists insist
that men have guided the social construction of gender and sexuality for their own
purposes. Men have controlled women though several kinds of things, such as
women’s body, economics, law, and etc. For example, women’s body, as we know
that men usually like slim and beautiful women. In order to be what men usually like,
women try hard to be that men like. This example gives a clear image of how men
have controlled women through their bodies, just like what Kourany et.al said in
Feminist Philosophies that:
“Through education, law, and economics; through
pornography, prostitute, sexual harassment, rape, and
woman battering, and through foot binding, suttee, purdah,
clitoridectomy, witch-burning, and gyneclogy, Men have
controlled “feminity” and sexuality for male pleasure.” (19)
The radical feminism theory is important since I want to analyze about rape,
which is how men usually take control of women’s bodies. And there are two radical
feminists, Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, who are controversial and are
against pornography. This study will use Dworkin and MacKinnon’s theories in
analyzing the cases of rape that happen in Perempuan Kembang Jepun. Dworkin and
MacKinnon, as cited in Kourany et.al, have noted that: “the pornographic imagination
distorts, degrades, and demeans the bodies of women far more than those of men.”
ASTARI 7
(21) In other words, what these two influential radical feminists, Dworkin and
MacKinnon want to say is that the value of women as human beings is seen as less
than the men. Some radical feminists focus on biological origins of women’s
oppression and some of them emphasize the ways in which gender (rigid ideas of
“feminity”) and sexuality (rigid ideas of heterosexuality) have been used to
subordinate women to men. Kourany, et.al, noted that radical feminists initially saw
the women’s biology and psychology as the actual causes of women’s enslavement,
though today most of radical feminists view them as the potential sources of women’s
liberation (18).
Sexual Objectification
Three radical feminists that I have mentioned before, Andrea Dworkin,
Catharine MacKinnon, and also Immanuel Kant, give definitions of sexual
objectification. Sexual objectification occurs when a human is not recognized as fully
being a human, that humans only become an object for other people. As Dworkin said,
as quoted in Papadaki,
“Dworkin, using very Kantian language, writes about the
phenomenon of sexual objectification: ‘Objectification
occurs when a human being...... is made less than human,
turned into a thing or commodity, bought or sold. When
objectification occurs, a person is depersonalized..... those
who can be used as if they are not fully human are no
longer fully human in social terms; their humanity is hurt
by being diminished’ (30-31).”
ASTARI 8
The phenomenon of sexual objectification occurs when a person makes other
person as less than human, the person becomes a thing or object. When a man treats a
woman as less than human, it is called sexual objectification. The woman who is
treated as less than human can be called an object for the man. When objectification
occurs to a person, especially a woman, she feels that her humanity is being
diminished by the men. So, in other words, if the men used women’s bodies as their
object, the women would not feel that they are human anymore. Some women are
aware that they are being objectified, and some are not. Besides that, MacKinnon also
gives a description of sexual objectification, as cited in Papadaki. She writes: “A sex
object is defined on the basis of its looks, in terms of its usability for sexual pleasure...
A person, in one Kantian view, is a free and rational agent whose existence is an end
in itself, as opposed to instrumental. In pornography women exist to the end of male
pleasure.” (173, 158). MacKinnon tries to say that a person is free and rational for
herself/himself and should oppose to be an object. In other words, a sex object, here
meaning women, is defined by how the women look, such as the way the women
dress and that they are then used for sexual pleasure. Papadaki, Kant, Dworkin and
MacKinnon also said that treating a person as a mere sexual tool is called
objectification. Objectification leads to the reduction of the individual in question to
the status of a thing for use (a lemon, a steak, a cup). Kant, Dworkin, and MacKinnon
give the example of a lemon. It is like if the man has used the lemon for something,
tasted it and then he would throw it away. I can explain that in this example a lemon
is like a woman’s bodies. Usually after we eat a lemon, we just throw it away. The
ASTARI 9
example is the same like after the men used women’s bodies and felt the pleasure.
Then the men just threw their body away.
Sexual objectification has several kinds of types, such as pornography, rape,
sexual harrassment, etc. In this study I want to emphasize only about the rape,
especially marital rape. The rape not only happens in a family, but it also can happen
in many contexts, as MacKinnon said that,
“We find that rape happens to all women in all contexts,
from the family, including rape of girls and babies, to
students and women in the workplace, on the streets, at
home, in their own bedrooms by men they do not know and
by men they do know, by men they are married to, men thay
have had social conversation with, and, last often, men they
have never seen before.” (296)
The quotation above gives a clear explanation that we find rape happens to
women in many context by everyone, especially men. Women can be raped by men
whom they are married to, like the cases of rape that happen in Perempuan Kembang
Jepun, where Sujono’s wives, Matsumi and Sulis are raped by their husband, Sujono;
also Lestari was raped by her step-brother.
SUMMARY
Matsumi, is a geisha who is sent by Yuriko to Surabaya, Indonesia, to
accompany Shosho Kobayashi, one of the leaders of Japanese soldiers in Indonesia.
After arriving in Surabaya, Matsumi changes her name to Tjoa Kim Hwa, which has
the meaning Golden Flower Snake as her name in Indonesia, because it is too
ASTARI 10
dangerous if she uses a Japanese name. In Surabaya, Matsumi lives in one of red light
district areas named Kembang Jepun with Takeda as the owner. At Kembang Jepun,
Matsumi works as a prostitute to accompany the guests. After a long time living in
Kembang Jepun, Matsumi meets Sujono, a kuli worker at Babah Oen, one of the
richest clothing store owners in Surabaya. Because Sujono always carries Babah
Oen’s marketable goods, Matsumi and Sujono always meet behind the house to talk
to each other. Sujono falls in love with Matsumi, and knowing that Matsumi’s price
in the Kembang Jepun is high, Sujono steals Babah Oen’s money in order to spend a
night with Matsumi. Matsumi and Sujono finally have sex. Then Matsumi realized
that she loves him, even though she should not use feelings when she works.
One day, Matsumi told Sujono that she is pregnant. Sujono was happy to hear
that because he wants Matsumi to be his wife, give birth, raise their children and, the
most important thing, is Sujono wants to make Matsumi his own. Matsumi decides to
leave Takeda’s house to marry Sujono. Matsumi tells Takeda that she loves Sujono.
Hearing that, Takeda got very angry at Matsumi. Matsumi and Sujono finally get
married.
However, on the other hand, before Sujono meets Matsumi, Sujono actually
has a wife, named Sulis, a woman who used to sell jamu, a traditional Javanese drink,
to workers in harbour before she marries with Sujono. Sujono marries Sulis, because
Sulis told him that she was pregnant with his child. In Matsumi and Sujono’s
marriage, what Matsumi expected from her marriage with Sujono is different with
ASTARI 11
what actually happened. At first, their marriage is full of happiness. Sujono does not
have to work because they live off Matsumi’s savings. Matsumi also gives her
savings to Sujono which he then gives to Sulis. After Matsumi’s savings decrease,
Sujono still does not want to work. Matsumi is dissapointed with Sujono. Sujono is a
lazy person. He does not want to work and only wants to have sex with her. The same
situation happens to Sujono and Sulis’ marriage. When Matsumi feels that is enough
for her, Matsumi wants to leave her house with her child, Kaguya, because she cannot
last with Sujono. When Japan gives up to the allied states during a war, Matsumi
thinks that it is a way to run away from Sujono and go back to Amaterasu Oomikami,
Japan. Finally, Matsumi leaves her house with Kaguya, but she cannot bring Kaguya
with her to Japan. Kaguya is left alone in Surabaya to Mr. Tan and Mrs. Nia. After
many years, Matsumi comes back to Indonesia for her child, Higashi’s engagement
with Maya, Lestari’s adopted child. Then finally, Matsumi can meet her lovely
daughter, Kaguya, a.k.a Lestari.
DISCUSSION
In this discussion, I only focus on the marital rapes that happen in Sujono’s
family. The issues of marital rape which happen to three women characters, Sulis,
Matsumi and Lestari by the men characters, Sujono and Joko.
Rape as a Media To Control Women
ASTARI 12
In Perempuan Kembang Jepun, rape happens to all women characters, Sulis,
Matsumi and Lestari. Defining rape itself, the definition of rape is physically forced
or otherwise coerced penetration – even if slight – of the vulva (vagina) or anus,
using penis, other body parts or an object (pg. 1), as Wang said. Whereas a marital
rape is a rape that happens in a family context. The issue of marital rapes happen in
Sujono’s family. Sujono is one of the men characters in Perempuan Kembang Jepun
who has two wives. Their name are Sulis and Matsumi. First, I want to discuss about
how Sujono treats Sulis in their marriage. In Sujono and Sulis’ marriage, their
marriage is not happy. They live in poverty and in a hard situation where Sujono does
not want to work and Sulis only stays at home. This situation makes Sulis get angry
to Sujono, and everyday they fight for the same problem asking Sujono to find a job.
Sulis feels tired for Sujono and decides to sell potions again at the harbour. On other
hand, Sujono feels enough for the bad words that Sulis usually says to him, then
Sujono gets angry and starts treating Sulis roughly. Sujono often punches Sulis in her
eyes and stomach, saying bad words to Sulis, even rapes her.
“He treated me no different from a handmaid who made
him a coffee. He was also very violent. Beside rice, I had
his punches on my plate. He was rough not only with his
words and hands, but also when sleeping with me.” (79)
Sulis said that her husband has treated her badly, she is just like a servant in
her own house, besides she was asked to make a coffee. She also got insulted even
beatings from her husband. Seeing the quote above emphasizes how rude Sujono is.
He does not only badly treat his wife in terms of physicals, but also mentals. In my
ASTARI 13
own view, although Sulis is his own wife, but it does not mean that he can do
anything to his wife. A wife also has the right to speak what she felt and what she
thought. But the novel shows the opposites; she is always against back to Sujono
while they are fighting. It shows how Sujono has full right in controlling Sulis.
Implicitly, it shows that the position of woman is under the man. He treats his wife,
Sulis, no different from a handmaid. Beside that, she also gets punched, attacked with
told bad words, mishandled, etc. from Sujono. Here, Sujono has full right in
controlling Sulis’s bodies. Since Sujono is Sulis’ husband, Sujono has the right in
controlling Sulis, like asking Sulis to make him a coffee every morning until serving
him on the bed at night. Then for Sulis, after what Sujono did to her, it only makes it
more difficult for her to control herself. As she said, “He treated me roughly, which
made it more difficult to control myself.” (54). Sulis says this when Sujono rapes her,
he treats her roughly. Sulis says that because she feels difficult in controlling her
body by herself. She finds it difficult to defend her body from Sujono. She also feels
difficult controlling her emotions because of Sujono’s behavior. The “controlling”
here means that Sulis is no longer has power over for her body. Sujono takes his part
in controlling her bodies. She knows that she is become Sujono’s object for his
roughness. Not only does she get punched by Sujono, Sulis also was raped by Sujono.
“He raped me”. (79)
ASTARI 14
Sulis’ suffering has not ended yet; Sujono rapes her. One night when they are
fighting about their marriage, after Sujono punches to Sulis, Sujono gives her a lesson
by raping her. We can know the roughness of Sujono from Sulis saying,
“While still in pain and not fully consious, Mas Sujono
leapt on me like hungry tiger. He pulled my legs up in the
air, pressed them against my chest, and pushed me until
my head hit the wall. I whimpered and tears flooded my
face, but he did not care. He penetrated me roughly until
his sweat fell like a mist. He stopped without the squirt of
the warm liquid.” (78)
Sulis says this about when Sujono rapes her. This quotation gives a clear
image of how rude Sujono is while he rapes her. Sujono leaps on Sulis’ body like a
hungry tiger, he pulls her legs, presses them against her chest, and pushes her head
until it hits the wall. Sujono also penetrated her roughly, but he does not ejaculate. It
shows that Sujono only uses Sulis’ body to give her a lesson to not go against him.
Sujono rapes her to give a warning. So, Sulis will no longer try to challenge him
while they are fighting. This shows how sexual violence, specifically rape, used by
Sujono to control Sulis, who is feared of being uncontrolled. As Dr. HoltzworthMunroe said in Wolf, that:
“....there are three categories of men who hit women. Men in
one group fear abandonment; those in second are
hypersensitive to criticism; men in third more deliberately use
violence to control their partners.” (95)
Sujono is include in the third kind of men who hit women, men who use
violence to control their partners. Here, Sujono uses rape as a media to control Sulis.
ASTARI 15
Sujono uses rapes because he is afraid that Sulis is out of control. Sujono also makes
Sulis to obey him bu using rape.
In previous discussion, we know how rude Sujono is, by how he says a bad
words and rapes Sulis. It is also shown in the way he treats Matsumi, Sujono’s second
wife, who also gets the same treatments from Sujono. Whereas Sujono really loves
Matsumi; he also insults Matsumi using bad words. As he said in Part 3: Matsumi,
“you’re nothing but a prostitute, a whore, a slut.” (147). Even Matsumi is also called
as a whore, etc, but in that statement we can see that actually he has a different
purpose in saying the bad words. He says those words because he is jealous knowing
that Matsumi wants to work again in Hanada’s house as a geisha. Feeling that Sujono
owns Matsumi, he does anything in order to prevent Matsumi’s desire to work as a
geisha again. Despite Matsumi hearing bad words from Sujono, she is also no longer
treated as Sujono’s wife. Sujono treats her more like a slut, whore, worse than he
would treat a geisha. As she said,
“He no longer treated me like his sweetheart, but worse
than he’d treat a geisha, jugun ianfu, prostitute, whore,
slut, or any other word he used in his cursing.” (148)
The reason why Matsumi says that is when Matsumi is still being a geisha,
Sujono treats her as his sweetheart, full of tenderness. Sujono shows his love to
Matsumi and wants her to be his wife. The treatments that Matsumi receives from
Sujono before and after she marries is really different. This part is interesting to know
why Sujono changes his attitudes to Matsumi. Sujono changes his attitudes because
ASTARI 16
after his marriage with Matsumi, he thinks that he owns Matsumi. Thus, Sujono is
free saying bad words to Matsumi. Despite of getting a bad treatments from Sujono,
Matsumi was raped by Sujono too.
“He spread my thighs and lifted and folded them. he
kneaded and rolled me as if making sushi and treated my
body like a piece of paper, making me into anything he
wanted. I found no satisfaction in our union. Sujono made
lovemaking lose its beauty, tenderness, and even passion.
He disgusted me, leaving my whole body and my heart in
pain.” (148)
The same as Sulis, we can know Sujono roughness by Matsumi’s saying.
Sujono spreads Matsumi’s thighs, lifts, and folds them. He treats Matsumi’s bodies
like an object, Matsumi uses a piece of paper to describe her bodies where he could
do anything as he wants. As we know that we can make an origami by using a piece
of paper. Whereas Sujono should treat it as a human body, not a paper. Sujono also
makes Matsumi’s body into anything he wanted, like he gets a new toy to play with.
Over here, between Sujono and Matsumi, there is a misleading image of controlling
in the name of love. It is true to say that Sujono loves Matsumi, and Sujono tries to
show that he controls Matsumi in the name of love. The truth is Sujono controls
Matsumi does not in the name of love, but Sujono controls Matsumi in order to make
her obey him and afraid to him. Matsumi acknowledges that her position is under
Sujono’s control.
ASTARI 17
Then, the last examples is given from Lestari, Sujono and Matsumi’s daughter.
In Perempuan Kembang Jepun she was raped by Joko, her step-brother, Sujono and
Sulis’ child. One day, after Lestari has just taken a bath, Joko rapes her.
“Joko pushed and showed me down. I struggled to free
myself but I was too weak to fight him. He thrust something
between my thighs. It was painful and made me sore. I felt
warmth and then blood spotted the floor.” (251)
Joko pushes Lestari, then he thrust something between Lestari’s thighs. Joko make
use of Lestari’s body as his object to actualized his desire. Joko does not only use
Lestari’s as his sexual object, but also Joko wants to show to Lestari that he has
power by raping her.
The men characters in the story, Sujono and Joko do the sexual assault to the
women in their family. The types of sexual assault that happens here is marital rape.
Sujono rapes his wives, Sulis and Matsumi and Joko rapes his step-sister, Lestari.
Through rape, the men become subjects and the women become objects. As subjects,
the men have authority in controlling the objects, means the women. This show that
in the family, rape does give men in higher position than women.
The rape cases which happen in Sujono family are one kind of objectification
that occurs in our society. As MacKinnon says, rape can happen to women in all
contexts. All contexts here mean that rape can happen to women in any situation. The
women can be raped by their friends, people they know, and indeed their husband. In
Perempuan Kembang Jepun, the case of rape happens in families. Sujono rapes his
ASTARI 18
wives because he feels that he owns their bodies. He has control using their bodies for
his sexual desire. Through Sujono’s words and behaviors to his wives, it is not right
treating women not like human beings. Sujono treats Sulis and Matsumi’s bodies as
things, objects. As Dworkin said, the value of women beings is seen as less than men.
Sujono, sees his wives as less than him. The way he treats his wives shows that he
does not respect his wives. He is taking all control of his wives’ bodies.
Female Objectification
In Perempuan Kembang Jepun, it is clear that Sulis and Matsumi become
Sujono’s sexual objects. In “Part 1: Sulis”, Sujono treats Sulis as his sexual object,
because he only wants to get satisfaction from Sulis, but Sujono does not want to give
her satisfaction in back. As Dworkin says, that “a married woman is obligated to
engage in coitus with her husband”, also “he, not she,controls access to her body”
(102). What Dworkin’s saying is that, a married woman is always obligated to engage
coitus with her husband. In my opinion, it is imposible if we marry to someone, but
we do not have a coitus with our husband. A woman is obligated to engage coitus
with her husband means that Sulis has to engage in coitus with Sujono and Sujono
has the right to control Sulis’ body, but in Perempuan Kembang Jepun, Sujono did
not only engage in coitus with her, but he raped her. Sujono raped her to give her a
lesson that she should not glare at him, and say bad words to him. As Sulis says in
“Part 1: Sulis”,
ASTARI 19
“He raped me.” (79)
The difference here is usually people have sexual intercourse because they love each
other or at least it is a mutual. So, it is normal to have sex with our partner whom we
love. Through the relationship between Sujono and Sulis, I can see that there is no
love between them. Sujono only engages in coitus to get the pleasure from her before
he marries to Sulis. After Sujono marries to Sulis, Sujono uses Sulis’ body as his
sexual object. The meaning of a sexual object can be seen as in the quotation below:
“Was it making love if I had to serve him when my whole
body felt tired? Were we intimate if our union did not end
with both of us satisfied? Was it a huddle for warmth if I
was already half asleep and just let him “work” by
himself?” (76)
Sulis is thinking about Sujono’s behavior of always wanting her to engage in
coitus. It gives an image of Sulis’ feeling that she only became a sexual object for
Sujono. “Was it a huddle for warmth if I was already half asleep and just let him
“work” by himself?”; it means that Sujono uses her bodies only to get pleasure; he
does not think about if Sulis will feel satisfied or not. Sujono uses her body without
thinking of the condition of her bodies, whether she is tired or not. He only knows
that he wants to make love with Sulis. The idea of object comes from Simone de
Beauvoir, a famous feminist. Beauvoir says that man is a subject and woman is the
other, an object. It means that men become the center and women become the
subordinate. In this context, an object here means sexual object, where women
become an object for men. A sexual object itself is a person who is used by other
ASTARI 20
people only to fulfill his/her sexual dessire. In this problem, Sujono’s sexual object
here means that Sulis’ body has been used by Sujono for his own, interest, or sexual
desire.
The same situation also happens to Matsumi who thinks that her marriage
with Sujono is not happier than his first marriage. During their marriage, Sujono only
has sex with Matsumi everyday. Matsumi, who loves Sujono at first, feels it is okay
to have sex with her husband. But, time by time, Matsumi feels that Sujono is a lazy
person. Sujono does not want to find a job and go to work. He only stays at
Matsumi’s house to have sex with her. And he comes back to Sulis’ house at night.
Matsumi is finally aware that Sujono only takes advantages from her. As said in
“Chapter 3: Matsumi”, “All Sujono wanted from me was money and sexual pleasure.
He was taking advantage of me. He was no longer a lover.“ (146). Time by time,
Matsumi knows that Sujono only wants sexual pleasure from her. She feels that there
is nothing Sujono can do, except have sex with her. The words “taking advantage of
me” explicitly explain that Sujono only takes advantages from his wife. The
advantage itself is a form of sexual pleasure where he always uses his wife’s body to
get pleasure.
According to Kant, Dworkin, and MacKinnon, they said that treating a person
as a mere sexual tool is called objectification. In the story, the way Sujono treats his
wives are called objectification, because Sujono only uses his wives’ bodies to fulfill
his desire and pleasure. Sujono treats his wives as mere sexual tools and his sexual
ASTARI 21
object, where he can do anything to fulfill his sexual desire. I disagree with Sujono
who treats his wives as his sexual objects. Just like Dworkin said, while a married
women is obligated to make love with her husband and the husband controls her body,
but she also give an argument that a married woman should not be raped by her
husband (pg. 102). She also adds that “The woman had an argument: her husband
should love her as human being, not only use her as an object when he wanted to fuck
her.” (5). In other words, Dworkin wants to say that a husband should love his wife
as a human being. He should treat his wife not only merely using her to have sex, and
also using the bodies to get sexual pleasure. It is quite difficult to distinguish between
when we do objectification and when we do not. I think, when we force someone to
have sex and use someone’s body without permission is called objectification. As
Sujono does to his wifes, he uses his wifes’ bodies without thinking they will like or
not. Whenever Sujono wants to have sex, he just do that to his wives. Where having
sex it should be by two people who are pleased to do together without forcing each
other. Here, Sujono seems to like to exploit Sulis and Matsumi’s bodies to fulfill his
sexual desire by using their bodies to get pleasure. In Sujono and his wives’
relationship, marriage is not merely about love issue, Sulis and Matsumi marry to
Sujono because they believe that Sujono can give them feel secure, like assurance for
their living, but the fact is Sujono does not give them.
ASTARI 22
Silencing Women
In Perempuan Kembang Jepun, Sujono raped his two wives during his
marriage and made them as his sexual objects. Sujono’s treatments have bad effects
to them. In this third point, I am going to discuss about the reason Sujono uses rape to
his two wives.
The first character I am going to discuss is Matsumi. At first during her
marriage with Sujono, Matsumi really loves him. Matsumi is always trying to serve
Sujono, like Matsumi serves him meals everyday, makes a cup of coffee for him,
until serves his sexual desire in bed. She does those things with love. As she said, “I
always served him (Sujono) with all my heart, not only on the futon but also in
everything else.” (144). Sujono and Sulis are giving pleasure to each other. But, after
several months during their marriage, when Matsumi finally knows who Sujono is,
what Matsumi receives from Sujono is not fair. Sujono says bad words to her, makes
her as his sexual object, and the worst, rapes her. Then finally, Matsumi feels enough
for Sujono. After all things Sujono has done to her makes Matsumi really hate Sujono
where as she really loved him before.
“Although I used to be deeply in love with him, I hated him
now.” (129).
“I don’t want to see my daughter’s father, I wrote with
tears staining my face. I want to move as far away from
him. I never want to see him.” (126).
ASTARI 23
It also makes her not able to see him and she wants to leave Sujono to come
back to Japan, Matsumi’s hometown as soon as possible. Finally, Matsumi can go
back to her hometown. The effect has not stopped yet, besides making her hate
Sujono, she feels traumatized to fall in love with someone again. She is affraid if she
will get the same tratment from the one she loves. “I was confused, doubtful, and
scared. I did not want to make the same mistake.” (266). This quotation explains that
Matsumi feels afraid and she does not want to make the same mistake as she did with
Sujono, where Sujono hurt her.
The traumatized feeling is also experienced by Lestari, Matsumi and Sujono’s
daughter. After, Matsumi leaves, Sujono brings Lestari to Sulis’ house. Lestari was a
teenager, and her step-brother, Joko, was a bit older than her. One day, when only
Lestari and Joko were in the house, Joko raped her after she finished taking a bath.
The accident leaves a deep injury on her heart. As she said in “Chapter 5: Lestari”,
“I never had that kind of dream. Severe injures had scared
my cheeks and also destroyed my hopes. My dreams were
always dark and my world was colorless. I had lost my
smile and did not talk much.” (231)
The accident really hurts Lestari’s heart. The accident scares her and destroys her
hopes. She says that her dreams are always dark and her life is colorless; it means that
she never dreams something happy and she sees the world as empty, like there is no
rainbow. It makes her lose her smile and not talk much to any other people. The
ASTARI 24
accident also makes her close her heart and feel reluctant to open her heart even
though there are many men who want to mary her.
“..... never did I allow a man to approach me or peek into my heart.” (231232).
Lestari does not allow any man get closer with her. She prevents any man to peek
into her heart and makes her not want to marry to any man. She grows up until she
gets old and she is still single. “she (Lestari) was sixty years old and unmarried.”
(14). It implies that she really feels traumatized, and she does not believe in other
men. “In my life, Father was the only man who gave all his love to me (Lestari).”
(232-233). She only knows that there is only one man in her heart, it is Sujono, her
father who always takes care of and loves her. Her father also is the one who knows
her pains and wounds.
The two women characters, Matsumi and Lestari, feel traumatic and
depressed, As Wang said, rape victims commonly experience psychological
difficulties such as heightened fear, anger, anxiety, depression, guilt, self-blame, loss
of trust, flashbacks, and withdrawal.
Despite of making the victims experience psychological difficulties, rape is
used to silent and disempower the women. Sujono uses love to manipulated Sulis and
Matsumi in sex. Sujono uses sex to show his power to Sulis and Matsumi. The truth
is Sujono actually wants to disempowers Sulis and Matsumi. Sujono makes them into
ASTARI 25
the helpless creature that there is nothing they can do except receive Sujono’s
treatments to them and that they become Sujono’s object. The men rape the women is
to make them silent. They make the women silent beacuse they are afraid that the
women is being uncontrolled. So, the women will not against them. The other reason
is rape is the cheapest way which can make the women keep silent. The men only use
their power and position to do that. It is all politic that used by the men in order to
dehumanized the women.
CONCLUSION
This study analyzes about the rape cases happen in Sujono’s family in
Perempuan Kembang Jepun by Lan Fang. In analyzing the story by using radical
feminism theory, this study has several purposes. The first is to know what actually
happen in the story about the use of rape to women. The second is to make the
readers aware what is the meaning of rape cases happen in the story and the third is to
know why the men rape the women.
After analyzing the story, this study comes up with results that rape cases
happen in the story has several meanings. The first meaning is the men use rape as
their media to control women. Thus, the women will not against them. The second
meaning is they use rape to show that they have power more than the women and
make them as their object, especially sexual objects. And the third meaning is, rape is
the cheapest way they can use to dehumanize and make the women silent.
ASTARI 26
I hope this study can be useful for the readers in making them aware of rape
cases happen. I also hope that this novel can be analyzed using other theories, like
Feminism-Marxism. It can be done by paying attention to the parts when Sulis allow
her consumers to touch her body and grab her breast and Matsumi who works as a
geisha, absolutely uses her body to entertain her consumers. Sulis and Matsumi do
those all in order to gain money. It is kind of ironic where the women still use their
body to get money. It is ironic because the women are not aware that the men exploit
their body by using their money. By analyzing those parts, I believe that it can be
useful for the future, because women will think that their body are not for private
circulation and cannot be replaced with money.
ASTARI 27
WORK CITES
Beauvoir, Simone de. “The Second Sex”. London: Vintage. 1997. Book
Dworkin, A. “Intercourse”. New York: Basic Books. Print
_______. “Pornography: Men Possessing Women”. USA: Penguin Group. Print
Fang, L. “Perempuan Kembang Jepun”. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2012.
Book
_______. “Potions and Paper Cranes”. Trans. Elisabet Titik Murtisari. San Mateo:
Dalang Publishing LLC, 2013. Book
Kourany, J.A, Sterba, J.P, Tong, S. Feminist Philosophies : Problem, Theories and
Applications. USA: Harvester Wheatsheat, 1992. Print
Papadaki, E. “Sexual Objectification: From Kant to Contemporary Feminism.”
Feature Article: Theory and Practice. Contemporary Political Theory, 6 (330348). 2007. Print
“Sexual Objectification is Not Empowering, Here’s Proof.” http://www.bust.com.
Sturges, D. 31 May, 2013. Web. 30 October, 2013.
“Sexual Objectification, Part 1 : What is it?.” msmagazine.com. Heldman, C. 3 July,
2013. Web. 30 October, 2013.
“The Objectification of Women- It Goes Much Further Than Sexy Pictures.”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk. n.p. 10 Juny, 2013. Web. 30 October, 2013.
Wang, SK and Rowley, E. “Rape: How Women, The Community and The Health
Sector Respond.” Switzerland : World Health Organization, 2007. Ebook.
Wolf, Naomi. Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle For Womanhood. New York:
Random House, 1962. Print
“Kekerasan Dalam Rumah Tangga.” http://kesehatanreproduksi.tripod.com/ikr4.html.
n.p 2005. Web. 17 March, 2014.
“Kasus
Kekerasan
Terhadap
Perempuan
Masih
Tinggi.”
http://daerah.sindonews.com/read/2014/01/08/24/824764/kasus-kekerasan-
ASTARI 28
terhadap-perempuan-masih-tinggi. Akbar, R. 8 January, 2014. Web. 17 March,
2014.
ASTARI 29
Acknowledgment
It would not have been possible to write this thesis without the help and support of the
kind people around me.
Above all, I would like to thank Allah S.W.T.
This thesis would not have been possible without the help, support, advice, guidance,
patience of my supervisor, Danielle. Also the good advice, support and help of my second
reader, Bu Purwanti. And my Wali Studi, Bu Lany Kristono for the help during my study in
this faculty. I especially thank to you.
I would like to thank my parents and brother for the prayer and support. I also thank
my beloved friends, Estiningtyas R.W, Nanda P.R, Valentina Laras, Eren R, Fitri U, Annisaa’
Kamila, Titania T.O, Anindya L, Suryo Adi A, Febrina Anggri, Indah D and Icikiwir for the
help, support, encouragement, kindness, and friendship. I am really grateful having you all.
Last, but by no means least, I thank to TENNERS and all my friends at English
Department that I could not mention one by one.
For any errors or inadequacies that may remain in this work, of course, the
responsibility is entirely my own.